nA blast in the second unit of the Neyveli Lignite Corporation of India Ltd, nearly 200 km south of Chennai on Wednesday morning claimed the lives of six workers. 16 persons who suffered serious injuries have been admitted to a corporate hospital in Chennai while one person is being treated at Neyveli itself, said the company release.
This is the second mishap in two months occurring in NLCIL, a public sector enterprise. A blast in early May had resulted in two persons losing their lives.
According to S Gurusaminathan , Chief General Manager , NLC, the blast occurred when workers tried to restart a boiler which had been shut down on Tuesday night. On Wednesday morning, the management had deputed 17 contract workers and six permanent staff to re-start the boiler . The blast happened at 9.45 am while the team was trying to start the boiler.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah spoke to Chief Minister Edappadi Palaniswami on hearing about the news and assured the latter all help from the Centre. “Anguished to learn about the loss of lives due to a blast at Neyveli power plant boiler in Tamil Nadu. Have spoken to @CMOTamilNadu and assured all possible help," Shah tweeted.
The Home Minister further said that Centre's paramilitary wing Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) was already on the spot to assist the relief work.
